Hanagumori
by RenaRoo
Summary: Romantic spring walks carry people only so far and Raphael is concerned. How far can spring carry this relationship? One-Shot, Part of Simply Romance.


So, I caved and decided to make this slew of random romance scenes a mini-series known as "Simply Romance" (very creative). Basically I'm just experimenting with what I like best about my favorite canon romances; ie Don's plutonic affection for April, Leo and Radical's spiritual understanding. Now it's Raphael and Ninjara's turn.

I have always been surprised in the lack of backing Ninjara has received in the fandom (especially since, when growing up, I ranked her with the turtles themselves as far as my favorite characters were concerned) so here's some background information. She is from the Archie comic book series, a Japanese fox person (kitsune) who is villain turned good. For a major run of the series she ventures with the turtles due to her deep relationship with one Raphael.

TMNT © Viacom  
Ninjara © Archie Comics  
Story © Turtlefreak121

**Hanagumori**

My master always told my brothers and me that when seasons faded from one into the other, things and people changed. What once was seen in light could be faded into darkness and vice versa. I never fully got what he meant.

When I was a kid, I thought for sure that changes he was talking about had to do with the holidays. When it was summer you wanted fireworks, fall you wanted turkey, and winter you wanted presents. For a while that worked until the change of spring became a more pressing question.

It was the very thing that was on my mind while we walked on the beaten path in mid April.

I still didn't really understand what changes happened during spring yet, the way many do when they grow older and more observant, I felt some changes taking place. I think it had a lot to do with _her_ being there with me as we walked.

Ninjara was different from anyone or thing my brothers and I had met. In a world of hidden mutants and ancient magic, she prided herself on being supposedly "natural." I guess she meant that her race had existed for a while.

Still, I got the sense that she was a little bit like me. She no more felt as though she had the right to be among others than a flower belonged on the cherry trees.

I grunted and looked off, knowing that I had looked at her too long and she sensed it.

"It's funny," I felt myself say. "My brothers were being real jerks earlier, kept saying that we were going on some kind of _romantic_ spring walk. Never heard summtin' so stupid. There's not really much romantic about two warriors getting some exercise."

As I ended, I suddenly realized that I had either made a grand mistake or accomplished nothing. It was the first time in my life that I actually hoped I had accomplished nothing. So I looked at her and saw that icy glare.

I hated that look, reaching down into my soul and grabbing whatever it wanted from me. It almost made me sick thinking about it. If I hadn't been used to standing around with little to no equipment on I could imagine this was a lot like being completely naked in front of someone.

"Yes," was all she said before moving on.

"That's it?" I asked with a bit of aggravation. We had been playing this game for nearly two days now and, well, I've never been noted as the patient one. "You're not even going to _try _to keep up a conversation."

The fox hesitated, her brown fur sticking up slightly before she turned herself, a look of utter annoyance written on her face. I knew immediately that I had said something wrong to her. I hate this damn "lost in translation" stuff.

"I do not make it a practice to disrupt the spirits on holy ground."

"You don't?" I asked rather smugly in reply. It was then that I glanced forward and noticed the line of _torii_ ahead on the trail. It reminded me of the first time this tension between the two of us began, at the shrine.

The special _Torii _there drew me in, beckoning me toward the _Yomi_, the Underworld. Ninjara had been able to stop me and it was then that something happened. Something inexplicably changed before our eyes and that's when I realized it was spring.

That didn't change what had happened before that, though. And my grudge had to remain for what she had almost done with the villain Chien Khan.

"If you don't you have a funny way of showing it," I continued. "You tried to resurrect the spirit world for Khan to control."

"I didn't know what his plans were," Ninjara snapped. She folded her arms and looked over me, a mischievous grin growing on her lips. I knew then that I was in for it, whatever _it _happened to be. "You are jealous of Khan, no?"

"Hell no," I snorted with a wave of my hand. "Dog-breath has nothing on a turtle like me."

"He had me, though," Ninjara stated quietly, a raise of her brows. "I was under his influence for quite some time."

"You saying you're not under mine anymore?" I retorted. "You're talking a dumb romantic walk with me, sounds like control to me."

"I believe, Raphael_-kun_, it is you who are under my control," Ninjara stated. "I have been in the lead of this walk for quite some time now and you haven't even once questioned where we are going. It is much like a lost puppy following around the hand which fed it."

We stared for a moment, neither of us backing down from the other's gazes. The fox was stubborn, but it would be a losing battle. No one, save for maybe Leo, could be as stubborn as me. It was something she'd have to learn about me.

Then again, she was thinking the same thing.

"I gotta know, Ninjara," I said at last, breaking the silence much to my ego's despair. "I gotta know if you really feel anything for me."

"Of course," she said with a shrug. "I am highly attracted to your fiery spirit, your restlessness."

"That's how I feel about you, too," I admitted blatantly. I supposed that was another distinct feature we shared. Our bluntness kept from a lot of useless white lies. It was a relationship founded completely on truth. Blatant, harsh truth. "That's what worries me."

"Why?" Ninjara questioned stiffly, her nose crinkling into a scowl.

"Because," I continued, "if we both like each other for being restless and we get together and get _settled_… what will there be for us to like about each other? Other than we both know that we can kick ass there's not much there."

She shrugged. "We do not know much of each other yet, Raphael_-kun._ That is what time is for."

"But do you think it will last?" I pressed. "I don't like wasting time."

"Then don't," she stated before reaching to the cherry tree limb above her. She yanked the bulb free and held it within the palm of her cupped hands. "Perhaps we should appreciate the blooms even before we form."

I smirked at her. "That's terribly corny."

"It is not corn, it is a blossom from a cherry tree," she corrected snappishly.

Laughing, I shook my head and took her hand. "Never mind, you're right, Ninjara. Let's appreciate what we've got. What do you say?"

That moment, when she looked up at me and agreed is what I remembered from that spring. That was when I saw that, from then on, everything from the coldest winters truly did change, just like what my master had always said.

...


End file.
